Happy Friday everyone!
http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHWxtURGECo
Friday, May 29, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
They're more like guidelines really
Who can name that movie?
Anyway, coming out of the sermon this last week, I wanted to get you thinking about the rules, guidelines, commandments, laws (whatever you want to call them) we find in the Bible. As I mentioned, there are over 600 laws in the Old Testament alone. What are we, as Christians 2000 years later, supposed to think about that?
Well, a couple of things to get you started in the process. One, there are a number of laws that can no longer be physically followed. Things like worship at the temple in Jerusalem. The temple was destroyed in 70 a.d., it doesn't exist, so many laws regarding that can't be done. This is just one example, but many laws really "can't" be done in our day to day, so that's a challenge.
Also, there are two particular parts of the New Testament story that should affect our thinking on the OT laws. One, is where Christ says Himself: I did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. (Matthew 5:17). The implication of this is that Jesus sees the law of God as good, not something to be done away with. Also, much of the laws, particularly in terms of sacrifices for sin, are fulfilled in Jesus' death and resurrection. Because of His death, no other sacrifice (in that way) is ever needed. This is Good News in so many senses of the word.
However, even removing the laws on sacrifice and the "physically-unable-to-perform" laws from the books, there are others. What to do with those? Do we follow them, or throw them out?
There are many Christians who look to a story in Acts as their guide on this. In Acts 15 you see one of the first Church councils dealing with one of the first church conflicts. There are new believers to the faith, and they aren't circumcised. And, oddly enough, they don't really want to get circumcised. So, by disobeying this direct rule from God, are they ultimately part of the believers or not?
After much discussion and prayer it is decided that all believers are saved by Grace, not by what we do. However, they ask the new believers to follow the long held rules on staying away from other gods, and to follow the rules concerning sexuality. So, based on that interpretation, those OT rules in regards to false gods, and the boundaries of sexuality should be maintained for Non-Jewish believers.
Apart from that it should be noted that anything Jesus' commands or speaks to directly, we as Christians consider as valid, true, and a guide on the way life should be lived.
So, don't know if that stirs more questions, or clears everything up. But I hope it gets you thinking just the same. I'm off to the Isle of Tortuga. Catch you on the flip-flop.
Bill
Anyway, coming out of the sermon this last week, I wanted to get you thinking about the rules, guidelines, commandments, laws (whatever you want to call them) we find in the Bible. As I mentioned, there are over 600 laws in the Old Testament alone. What are we, as Christians 2000 years later, supposed to think about that?
Well, a couple of things to get you started in the process. One, there are a number of laws that can no longer be physically followed. Things like worship at the temple in Jerusalem. The temple was destroyed in 70 a.d., it doesn't exist, so many laws regarding that can't be done. This is just one example, but many laws really "can't" be done in our day to day, so that's a challenge.
Also, there are two particular parts of the New Testament story that should affect our thinking on the OT laws. One, is where Christ says Himself: I did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. (Matthew 5:17). The implication of this is that Jesus sees the law of God as good, not something to be done away with. Also, much of the laws, particularly in terms of sacrifices for sin, are fulfilled in Jesus' death and resurrection. Because of His death, no other sacrifice (in that way) is ever needed. This is Good News in so many senses of the word.
However, even removing the laws on sacrifice and the "physically-unable-to-perform" laws from the books, there are others. What to do with those? Do we follow them, or throw them out?
There are many Christians who look to a story in Acts as their guide on this. In Acts 15 you see one of the first Church councils dealing with one of the first church conflicts. There are new believers to the faith, and they aren't circumcised. And, oddly enough, they don't really want to get circumcised. So, by disobeying this direct rule from God, are they ultimately part of the believers or not?
After much discussion and prayer it is decided that all believers are saved by Grace, not by what we do. However, they ask the new believers to follow the long held rules on staying away from other gods, and to follow the rules concerning sexuality. So, based on that interpretation, those OT rules in regards to false gods, and the boundaries of sexuality should be maintained for Non-Jewish believers.
Apart from that it should be noted that anything Jesus' commands or speaks to directly, we as Christians consider as valid, true, and a guide on the way life should be lived.
So, don't know if that stirs more questions, or clears everything up. But I hope it gets you thinking just the same. I'm off to the Isle of Tortuga. Catch you on the flip-flop.
Bill
Friday, May 22, 2009
BBQ
Don't forget, if you're around this weekend, to come to church! Just cause it's a holiday weekend, don't think everything is closed. We're still gathering in worship. What a great place to be, any day really. Also, come hungry, since we'll be trying our BBQ after both services. I'm looking forward to it, and looking forward to seeing all of you there.
Bill
Bill
Monday, May 18, 2009
Keeping the Sabbath
Hi there,
If you heard my sermon yesterday, you know I picked a little bit on the Pharisees, in particular their trying to maintain the Sabbath. I didn't have enough time to fully explore that idea yesterday, so I wanted to flesh out a few things here for those that are interested.
The keeping of the Sabbath is an idea most of us have some knowledge of, even if we don't know how to do it exactly. It starts in Genesis 2 where God sets aside the last day of Creation for rest. And, as God does, so are we asked to do. One day a week we shouldn't "work", we should rest and rejoice in the wonder of God's creation. This idea continues in the 10 Commandments, Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. But, like I said yesterday, what did that mean? You see a few times in Scripture some definition of what we should or should not do on our day of rest. For instance, Nehemiah 13 is where we get justification for most of the "blue laws" that say you cannot buy or sell anything on the Sabbath day.
But, for the Pharisees it wasn't enough. Scripture says we shouldn't carry a heavy burden on the Sabbath, but it didn't say how much that burden could be. So, they actually tried to determine how much weight you could carry before you were working. It might seem crazy to us, but I think their heart was in the right place. Anyway, all of this leads up to our story.
Jesus heals a man on the Sabbath, and the Pharisees are so enraged they plot to kill Jesus. Why? And why does Jesus say you could rescue an animal from a well on the Sabbath? Why not heal a man?
The answer is found in this question: Was it necessary? The Pharisees did believe that in case of an emergency you should save someone's life on the Sabbath, even if that required "work". Apparently this even applied to livestock. They said better to profane one Sabbath, and allow countless more to be celebrated. But what Jesus did was different.
He willfully flaunted His work on the Sabbath when it wasn't "necessary." Jesus could have performed His miracle on the following day. The man had been suffering for so long, but he wasn't dying. So, there was no need to heal him on the Sabbath day. It wasn't necessary, in their opinion. Jesus' disregard for their careful logic clearly drove them over the edge as their reaction shows. But it also shows what Jesus was about.
From a logical persepctive, the Pharisees were right. This man didn't "need" his hand healed that day. It could have waited. But that's not Jesus' perspective. He had a chance to change a man's life forever. His life, not just his hand but his whole life, was able to be restored by one word from Jesus. And that new life was not going to wait. Not another day, not another hour. It was going to start immediately. And whatever barrier might have been in place to prevent it was of no consequence to Jesus. New life was coming to another child of God. Who would ever want to wait for that to happen?!
So, there you have it. A bit more than what we did yesterday. Hope it helps, or at least provides a few more answers for you. And maybe even some questions as well.
Enjoy the Sun, and the Son :)
Bill
If you heard my sermon yesterday, you know I picked a little bit on the Pharisees, in particular their trying to maintain the Sabbath. I didn't have enough time to fully explore that idea yesterday, so I wanted to flesh out a few things here for those that are interested.
The keeping of the Sabbath is an idea most of us have some knowledge of, even if we don't know how to do it exactly. It starts in Genesis 2 where God sets aside the last day of Creation for rest. And, as God does, so are we asked to do. One day a week we shouldn't "work", we should rest and rejoice in the wonder of God's creation. This idea continues in the 10 Commandments, Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. But, like I said yesterday, what did that mean? You see a few times in Scripture some definition of what we should or should not do on our day of rest. For instance, Nehemiah 13 is where we get justification for most of the "blue laws" that say you cannot buy or sell anything on the Sabbath day.
But, for the Pharisees it wasn't enough. Scripture says we shouldn't carry a heavy burden on the Sabbath, but it didn't say how much that burden could be. So, they actually tried to determine how much weight you could carry before you were working. It might seem crazy to us, but I think their heart was in the right place. Anyway, all of this leads up to our story.
Jesus heals a man on the Sabbath, and the Pharisees are so enraged they plot to kill Jesus. Why? And why does Jesus say you could rescue an animal from a well on the Sabbath? Why not heal a man?
The answer is found in this question: Was it necessary? The Pharisees did believe that in case of an emergency you should save someone's life on the Sabbath, even if that required "work". Apparently this even applied to livestock. They said better to profane one Sabbath, and allow countless more to be celebrated. But what Jesus did was different.
He willfully flaunted His work on the Sabbath when it wasn't "necessary." Jesus could have performed His miracle on the following day. The man had been suffering for so long, but he wasn't dying. So, there was no need to heal him on the Sabbath day. It wasn't necessary, in their opinion. Jesus' disregard for their careful logic clearly drove them over the edge as their reaction shows. But it also shows what Jesus was about.
From a logical persepctive, the Pharisees were right. This man didn't "need" his hand healed that day. It could have waited. But that's not Jesus' perspective. He had a chance to change a man's life forever. His life, not just his hand but his whole life, was able to be restored by one word from Jesus. And that new life was not going to wait. Not another day, not another hour. It was going to start immediately. And whatever barrier might have been in place to prevent it was of no consequence to Jesus. New life was coming to another child of God. Who would ever want to wait for that to happen?!
So, there you have it. A bit more than what we did yesterday. Hope it helps, or at least provides a few more answers for you. And maybe even some questions as well.
Enjoy the Sun, and the Son :)
Bill
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Adoption update
So, for those of you who haven't had a chance to see it yet, my wife keeps a spectacular blog about our family, and more specifically our journey through adoption. She had a very special post yesterday and I wanted to link that here for those of you who want to check it out.
http://becomingwalles6.blogspot.com/
Have a great day!
http://becomingwalles6.blogspot.com/
Have a great day!
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
The story of Job
In our Wednesday morning Bible Study we've been looking at Job for the last several weeks, and it's such a great story to read again. For those of you who haven't spent much time there, Job is probably the main story in the Bible that deals with the question: Why does God allow suffering? Or even better: Why do bad things happen to good people? If you've ever had that question yourself, and I think all of us have, Job gives some interesting answers. Actually, Job doesn't, God Himself does in the final 4 chapters. Now, they aren't necessarily the answers we're looking for, but they are His answers so you know they're good. It's a similar idea to what the book, The Shack, tries to do with some success as well. It's a pretty universal struggle, and it's one of those things that keeps a lot of people we all know at arm's length from God's love and forgiveness. I'm not going to try and paraphrase God's own words, but the next time you ask one of those questions, consider my friend Job. And perhaps read the last couple of chapters for yourself.
If you've got any specific questions that come from this idea I'd be happy to try and answer them in the comments section. Hope you're all having a great day!
If you've got any specific questions that come from this idea I'd be happy to try and answer them in the comments section. Hope you're all having a great day!
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Happy Limerick Day
Well, I don't know if it was the promise of the 8X10 glossy, or my witty repartee, but either way we've got at least double digits checking in with the blog right now. Thanks for coming on board. Although, I have to say I didn't necessarily think this through. For instance, one of my best friends from High School is now reading this, so I'm wondering if I can block him from posting any comments :). Also, some of the guys who have gone with me to Whistler are on here, which can't bode well either. But my favorite has to be Matt who is on here but apparently in RSS mode. Matt sends out Tweets of what he's doing at work and it's honestly like he's speaking in tongues. Now, I think we need more of that in church (remember, if it's in the Bible it's Lutheran) but Matt definitely needs a translator. His computer speak is well beyond me. So, instead of asking him what RSS mode is I've come up with my own ideas. Retired Secret Service. or maybe, Randomly Sized Sausages. Either way, Matt I'm glad you're here.
Not much more to add than that, so far. But as the title of this post suggests, it's National Limerick Day. So, feel free to post a comment in classical Limerick format if you'd like.
Monday, May 11, 2009
A Day Off
So, for those of you at church yesterday, you know I had something of a day off. Several months ago, I really felt God nudging me that it would be nice to have an actual Mom give the sermon on Mother's Day. I don't know if anyone else thinks that's a big deal or not, but it seemed like a good idea to me. So, Dana seemed like the right person to ask, and I'd said she did a spectacular job when all was said and done. On a somewhat related note, the timing might have felt a bit funny, since I had just taken several weeks "off" for our trip to China. But, I'm still really glad Dana was our preacher yesterday. She provided an insight into scripture that was very interesting. And on a day when we celebrate the strength and gifts of Moms, it was wonderful to see a Mom share some gifts she probably doesn't get to pull out too often in her daily life. Besides, you guys hear me enough the rest of the year, don't ya? It was a good day.
After that, I tried to give Sarah the day off by cooking and stuff at home. It all turned out okay, but there was a moment when I was trying to set the table, grill the burgers, and heat up the French Fries, and I thought my head was going to explode. I don't know how ya'll (meaning the ladies in the group) do it. I'm glad I only have to cook once a year.
Right, honey?
After that, I tried to give Sarah the day off by cooking and stuff at home. It all turned out okay, but there was a moment when I was trying to set the table, grill the burgers, and heat up the French Fries, and I thought my head was going to explode. I don't know how ya'll (meaning the ladies in the group) do it. I'm glad I only have to cook once a year.
Right, honey?
Thursday, May 7, 2009
So, I'm still reflecting on what a great Sunday we had this last week. I love Connfirmation. I love the youth getting a chance to really take ownership of their faith. And I love what a tight-knit class we had this year. They were all a lot of fun. I don't keep in contact with many of the friends who were in my Confirmation class, but I still think of them as some of the best friends I've ever had. I hope you had that same experience. I hope you didn't wear the same glasses I wore to my Confirmation, however. Sally Jessie Raphael had nothing on me. Oh well. To have lived through the 80's is an accomplishment in and of itself. Here's a much better picture, of a much better looking group of young people (and one slightly older guy.)
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Greetings and Salutations
Hi all,
So, I've decided to join the blogosphere. I admit it's with a little fear and trepidation as there seem to be a fair number of really great blogs already out there (my wife's being one of them) and way too many lame ones. I really don't want to be in the second category. But I thought this might be a great way of keeping up with a lot of you, particularly over the summer months when we seem to scatter to the four winds. Some times I'll write about Church stuff. Sometimes it may be more personal thoughts. Sometimes it'll just be a random movie review. But I hope that it's always at least a little bit entertaining. And in all of it, I hope we model the kind of conversation and life that points towards the Savior of the world. Jesus is such an amazing guy. He's absolutely changed my life. If you haven't really had the chance to get to know Him yourself, I truly hope and pray that you do. And that this little blog might encourage you in that journey as well.
Btw, do you know which Movie influenced this Blog Title? Bonus points if fyou can name the two lead actors.
So, I've decided to join the blogosphere. I admit it's with a little fear and trepidation as there seem to be a fair number of really great blogs already out there (my wife's being one of them) and way too many lame ones. I really don't want to be in the second category. But I thought this might be a great way of keeping up with a lot of you, particularly over the summer months when we seem to scatter to the four winds. Some times I'll write about Church stuff. Sometimes it may be more personal thoughts. Sometimes it'll just be a random movie review. But I hope that it's always at least a little bit entertaining. And in all of it, I hope we model the kind of conversation and life that points towards the Savior of the world. Jesus is such an amazing guy. He's absolutely changed my life. If you haven't really had the chance to get to know Him yourself, I truly hope and pray that you do. And that this little blog might encourage you in that journey as well.
Btw, do you know which Movie influenced this Blog Title? Bonus points if fyou can name the two lead actors.
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